During her recent sit-down with Dr. Ella Bell at The MAKERS Conference, actress Gwyneth Paltrow touched on the need for White women to take a cue from their fellow Black women when it comes to self-love and upliftment.
Per PEOPLE, Paltrow, 51, touched on that point by referring to her own Black friends’ “incredible intrinsic self-honoring.” The Avengers: Endgame star said, “It’s like from the deepest part of their souls all the way to the tips of their fingers.”
“My Black women friends know themselves, love themselves, in a way that I think White women are not taught to,” she said. “I think White women are taught to be competitive with one another — which is something I’ve tried to work so hard to dispel, because I don’t believe in competition between women — but we’re raised to be competitive, to be jealous, to look over each other’s shoulders.”
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“And, at least in my circle of Black women, they do not do that,” Paltrow added. “There’s an immediate acceptance and safety and appreciation.”
The award-winning actress also emphasized why she feels “White women have a lot to learn from Black women.” “I’ve learned so much from my Black friends about ruthless self-acceptance and full love of self,” Paltrow stated. “And I think we as White women in this culture have a lot to learn from our Black sisters and the way in which they respect themselves. And I’m not sure exactly where that comes from.”
“I can ask you that question. I would actually love to know why you think that African American women have that, and it’s like in a collective — it’s like an interwoven beautiful connection — and how you think, as White women, we can start to cultivate that within ourselves and in our own friendships,” she continued.
Bell concurred, stating that she can “turn to the Black women in this room when I need lifting up.” “That’s important for us. And I don’t think White women have that,” Bell added.
“Keeping White women at odds with each other, in competition with one another, keeps the patriarchy strong,” Paltrow also responded. “So we really have to take it upon ourselves to be conscious of our thinking and our behavior, and to build bridges and to understand that somebody’s not going to get more. You don’t have to get less because somebody is going to get more.”
Outside acting, Paltrow runs a wellness and lifestyle brand known as Goop. She stated that her company aims at giving women “access to great things” as she feels they should “rule the world.”
“I think it comes from a place, really, of the love of women and wanting to connect with women and be that girlfriend, be that resource,” the actress stressed. “And I always go back to that — and that means all women. That means White, Black, Asian, Indian, women of all kinds. Our team is reflective of that.”
